Holocene record of gradual, catastrophic and human influenced environmental change at Moashitu wetland, D'Urville Island, New Zealand
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Date
2012-01-31
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Australian Metrological & Oceanographic Society
Abstract
Active tectonism, sea level fluctuation and human arrival have moulded the present day physical
environment of New Zealand. Coastal wetlands are recognised archives of Holocene environmental changes.
By applying sedimentological, geochemical and chronological techniques to coastal wetlands, natural and
anthropogenic changes can be observed. Moawhitu Wetland, located on D’Urville Island, New Zealand, is
home to a Maori oral tradition that describes a giant wave destroying a community in the 15th century. Little
geological work has been carried out to investigate the evidence of the event and no studies have researched
the palaeoenvironmental history of the area. This research was therefore aimed at reconstructing the
Holocene environmental record at Moawhitu Wetland to determine if there was evidence of severe changes
to the landscape as described in Maori oral traditions. Three sedimentary sequences from Moawhitu Wetland were used to reconstruct a 7500 year record that
incorporated gradual, catastrophic and human influenced changes. The record was established by using
multiple sedimentary proxies (grainsize, organic matter content, geochemistry and mineralogy) at three
different sites that were temporally aligned with dating techniques (14C and 210Pb) . Barrier formation, lake
and wetland formation, erosion, human influences and a tsunami ~3000-3300 yr BP were identified in the
sedimentary record. These changes were applied to a broader spatial context from which inferences of sea
level rise, regional faulting and potential climate change were drawn. The central west coast of New Zealand
has undergone an array of short and long term environmental changes throughout the Holocene and can be
identified as an area susceptible to potential tsunami events.
Description
Keywords
Quaternary period, Sedimentary basins, Natural disasters, Human populations, Environmental impacts, Wetlands, New Zealand, Sea level, Geochemical surveys, Carbon 14, Tsunamis
Citation
Cope, J., Chagué-Goff, C., Mooney, S., Goff, J., Zawadzki, A. Wong, H., Kilroy, C., Jacobsen, G., & Dominey-Howes, D. (2012). Holocene record of gradual, catastrophic and human influenced environmental change at Moashitu wetland, D'Urville Island, New Zealand. Paper presented at the AMOS 18th International Conference, "Connections in the Climate Systems", University of New South Wales, Sydney, 31 Jan to 3 Feb 2012.